When I was much younger, and I heard these parables from Jesus about the Pearl of Great Price and the Treasure in the Field, I would wonder: How could that possibly work? After all, in the parable, Jesus says that the person who finds the pearl and the treasure “sells all that he has and buys it.” And I would think: He sold everything? His house; his donkey and cart; his tools; his clothes; his food? So now he has nothing at all except this pearl or whatever treasure was buried in the field! Now what? What does he eat? Where does he live? What good would a pearl do for you, if that’s all you had?

Young Solomon was nervous. His father, the great King David, had just died after a 40-year reign; and now Solomon had been chosen to succeed him as king, at the young age of—well, Scripture doesn’t specify, but the age 18 or his 20s is a pretty good guess. And now he was faced with, not just surviving palace intrigues to overthrow him; but also the weight and responsibility of governing a vast people justly and well. How would he ever be up to the task?

And, although this moment in Solomon’s life happened some 3000 years ago, we know what it was like, don’t we? For every one of us has faced such moments, perhaps many times. (more…)